Last summer's stating events have focused attention on the question of how much development should be allowed on the floodplain, especially when it comes to homes.

There is currently huge anxiety in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, over plans for 600 new properties on a site at Longford that protestors say was under water this time last year.

And such rows are sure to be repeated across the region, as the Government pushes for its target of three million new houses in Britain by 2020.

The Western Daily Press has reported this week how Ministers want almost 600,000 new homes to be built in the South West by 2026, in the revised Regional Spatial Strategy that is now up for consultation.

It is a 29 per cent increase to just under 30,000 a year that the Government says is necessary “to address housing shortages, affordability issues and take account of past under-delivery in the region”.

Now Housing Minister Caroline Flint has indicated she will relax planning rules so more homes – especially affordable ones – can be built in the countryside.

But this demand for new homes raises the question of how many will be in the flood plain. Almost 16,000 were built in high-risk areas in 2006.

About 10 per cent of properties in England are located in a floodplain, 11 per cent of new homes have been built in flood hazard areas since 2000 and a quarter of houses that were hit last summer were less than 25 years old.

The Pitt Review into the floods says: “Wherever possible, new development should not take place in floodrisk areas and there should be a strong presumption against building on the floodplain.”

Sir Michael Pitt said some members of the public urged him to end all new floodplain development, while Tewkesbury Borough Council told him many members did not accept any building should take place.

But he said that would not be possible because some places such as London, Lincolnshire and Hull, were almost entirely in a flood plain so there could be no development at all.

The Government's national policy is set out in a document called PPS25 that was updated to include lessons from last summer's floods, with a revised version published last month.

The idea is to ensure flood risk is considered at all stages of the planning process, stressing the importance of flood risk assessments.

Ministers have also made it compulsory to consult the Environment Agency for all planning applications in flood risk areas.

And where a council intends to approve an application for 10 or more dwellings despite sustained objections from the Environment Agency, the relevant Cabinet Minister can call it in, and make the final decision.

Sir Michael recommended there should be a presumption against building in high flood risk areas, and that “developers make a full contribution to the costs both of building and maintaining any necessary defences”.